Autumn Leaf Piles
by PhoenixSong2013
Summary: Lily's family drifted apart as they grew older, and when they finally realise they're hurting her, how can Teddy fix her? Lily/Teddy.


Lily felt a leaf crush underneath her foot, her emerald eyes turned up towards the clouds in the evening sky. It was nearing sunset and she and her family had made a long walk through the garden of the Burrow, which stretched on for miles. The sky was an endless expanse of vibrant colours that danced with one another, chasing each other around the sky. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

She sighed, rubbing her arms to keep them warm. Lily had thrown on a tank top and jeans before she came out, not knowing it to be really this cold in the summer. But now her family had thrown her out in the cold she knew she should have even thought of a coat. Maybe it was some weird joke of James' and Fred's thinking that everything she would normally had thought of would be gone…

And now she was paranoid; it wasn't as if James and Fred made it their business to mess up everyone's days. But here she was, watching her cousins mess around in the leaf pile ahead, giggling and laughing and shrieking and screaming. Their aunts, uncles, grandparents, and parents watched lovingly from the back porch, sipping their drinks.

It wasn't as if she didn't like fun; of course not. But she had felt rather distant with her family when they had begun to separate. Normally she would be the one squealing while Roxanne and Hugo threw her into the pile, pulling Rose in beside her and throwing leaves at Fred and James. But ever since she had begun to feel that they were beginning to drift apart.

Roxanne was nineteen and was moving on to open her bookshop in the middle of Diagon Alley, so she could look after her parents if she wanted to. She had a fiancé named Daniel Brandon and their wedding was due in June. They were already planning to have children.

Fred was married already; it hadn't been an arranged marriage that most pureblood families arranged when they were young. He had found the girl he wanted to marry in his fifth year and they had fallen in love later that year and married straight after all. They had a baby on the way and lived in a small, seaside cottage as Fred worked at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Rose was eighteen and had moved on straight after Hogwarts to a wizarding college to train to become a Healer. She was engaged to Scorpius Malfoy and they were going to marry as soon as she finished her training and he became a fully-fledged Auror.

Hugo was in his seventh year. He had turned out Hufflepuff instead of Gryffindor, and had been drifting towards his best friend's family instead of his own. Of course, the Dursley's were a wonderful family – Cho and Dudley were very kind – but he was sorely missed and Missus Weasley always set him a place at the table when he didn't attend family dinners. He really was drifting away.

James was working underneath her father as Second-In-Command in the Auror squad for the Ministry. He had been working there for two years after graduating with very high grades and wishes for the future. He was married to Elizabeth Aubrey, who worked in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Albus was the Under-Secretary for the Minister for Magic and was a bright person. He was always there for his family, no matter what, but sometimes he seemed a bit cold and distant to her. He was engaged to Maria Finnegan, the daughter of an old school friend of his father's.

The worst part was that she was the only child who attended every family dinner. And the only child who comforted her Uncle George on the nights when May 2nd rolled around to haunt him. And the only child to hold her father when he talked to his parents with the Resurrection Stone that had returned to him three days after the war. And the only child who listened to Alice and Frank Longbottom's endless chatters and accepted their sweet wrappers. And the only child who was generally there.

Sometimes that was how she felt. She was the one who was just _there._

"Lils?" asked a voice by her ear, making her jump and turn her emerald gaze towards her Godbrother, Teddy, who grinned down at her, holding his coat out to her. "You look cold. Take it," he brushed her hair out of the way, noting her thankful smile as he did, and hooked it over his shoulders. "You're thinking about something."

Lily nodded and let him sling his arm around her shoulder, her head nestling into the crook of his neck as they watched Rose squeal as she was shoved into the pile of leaves. He grinned as James begun to throw little Jennifer – Fred's child – into the air and catch her again. "Penny for your thoughts?"

She hummed, knowing at least one of them would ask her about it. "I was just thinking about us. You know, how everyone's going their own way and leaving me behind." Lily sighed, her eyes turned up to his frowning face. "I mean, Fred and James are both married. Al, Roxanne, and Rose are on their way and are expecting children sooner or later. Hugo's rarely here because he seems to love the Dursley's better than us. You seem to be the only one besides me who comes to family dinners as often as we do. I'm just worried they'll all leave me," she blinked back tears, not noticing the salty drop of water leak down her left cheek and Teddy's hand creep up to wipe it away. "I'm sorry… I just can't help but think that I'm just… well, that I'm just _there_. I have _no purpose_ to do anything if I'm alone."

Teddy frowned and tugged her closer, resting his chin on her shoulder as he wiped the tear away. "You're never alone, Flower," he said quietly, his hand creeping up to her vibrant red hair to play with it. "Not for one second do you believe you are. Hugo doesn't mean to be like that – he just thinks he fits more with the Dursley's because he's not here all the time anyway. And Fred and James are still boys, deep down inside. They don't notice how much it hurts the rest of us when they talk about moving to foreign places or moving further away. Roxanne visits as much as she can – which, now that I think about it, doesn't seem much – but sometimes her bookshop can be too busy. Rose is still in college and her classes are rather demanding, but she doesn't seem to grasp the concept that her family would be more relaxing than stomping home to have another row with her fiancé only to make up again. Al is too wrapped up in his work to think about doing much else. But I'll always be here, you know. Dom, Vicky, and Louis are in France for the summer, and I know they'd say the same thing."

Lily shook her head. "I'm still the only one who really does things other than think of themselves, though. The others don't seem to realise that they can still call this place home even if they don't live there as much as they used to. It hurts, Ted. So much."

"I know, sweetheart. I wish I could do something."

"Me, too." She whispered, hugging him closer as the sun descended beyond the horizon and he buried his face in her hair. "So much."

* * *

Teddy frowned as he stepped through the fireplace, glaring at his family. They looked confused as to why they were grouped together, and shrank under his ferocious glare. "I'm very disappointed in you all, you know," he growled, flopping into a nearby armchair and staring them all in the eye.

"What is it, Teddy?" said Fred impatiently, his hand twitching on his knee as he glared right back. "Jennifer and Mari are waiting back home so we can go out and get ice cream."

He frowned. "That's exactly what I'm talking about." He watched confused frowns appear on their faces and angrily rolled his eyes. "It's Lily." Al's eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but Teddy cut him off. "She's not in trouble or anything. But she's depressed. She thinks everyone's left her behind as you all grow up and that she's just _there_."

James turned pale and slapped himself in the forehead. "When we all moved on, she was the only one who seemed to want to keep us all together! She was so quiet these last few months... and it's all my fault."

Roxanne shook her head, grabbing his shoulder and soothing it, a single tear dripping down her cheek. "Poor little Lily," she whispered, "we never did think about how it would affect her. Moving out and moving on seemed to inviting for us to think about our families and what they might think. It's _all_ our faults."

Fred groaned and slumped back in his chair, his hand slapping over his eyes. "We just didn't think about her at all!"

"Oh my goodness," whimpered Rose, tears leaking from her eyes. "I never thought... I just..."

Hugo shook his head, putting it in his hands. "We were stupid," he deadpanned, rubbing his temples. "I never thought how much it would hurt when I started going to Derek's for dinner every weekend. I should've at least talked to you all about it."

Ginny turned her head towards Harry. "Now we know what that was about," she whispered. "I just wish we'd have done something more. She was so sad last summer and all I could come to as a conclusion was she was pressured by her owls." Ginny began to sob. "My poor baby... I can only imagine how she feels. I'm so, so sorry, baby. What do we do?"

Angelina wiped a tear from her husband's face, sniffling. "We never did think about how little Lily would feel when we left home and moved down south," she whimpered. "We just talked about how beneficial it would be for ourselves, George. All I can see now is all the kids when they were little, bouncing around the gardens, jumping in the leaf piles and laughing... we were family back then. Now I'm not sure what we are."

"My daughter," said Harry quietly. "Oh, Lily. If only she told someone about it before we all walked away. And now all we can do is try to patch up those little holes in her heart. I used to feel abandoned like that. I know exactly what it feels like... I should've done something."

Molly stood up, sniffling. "We all should've done something," she said slowly, determinedly. "We will do something now, though. All we can do is try to make her better. Like when she was a little baby with the measles and Lily was too young to fix herself with magic and she was so small we were afraid to heal her but we sat with her all the time. She was always so little, so frail - as if she could break. And now I'm wondering if we really know our little Lily Luna."

Arthur pulled her back into her chair, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and sighing. "And when she was five and she was coming home from Romania with Charlie. She bounced right over and hugged me so tightly I fell onto the pavement and the snow covered both of us."

"I remember when she was twelve," said Bill, running a hand through his hair as he comforted his sobbing wife, "and she was round ours for a week. She and Dom were trying to persuade Roxanne and Victoire to join in on their 'pillow fight'. And when we went up there later, the room was covered in feathers." He chuckled weakly.

George sighed. "And when she first saw the shop when she was three. Ginny had kept her away from it because she was scared she'd do something. But she bounced right in as if she already knew it and threw herself at the firework stand. The shop was almost burnt down." He gave a watery smile, sniffing.

Audrey gave a weak laugh. "I remember when we were all helping you move back into Godric's Hollow, right where your parents lived, Harry. And we let all the kids roam around downstairs while we cleaned the upper floor and they wrecked the house more than it was. Lily and James were running around in the basement and Al, Rose, and Fred were stuck to the ceiling when Roxanne almost broke the most ancient clock on the wall. And Dom, Victoire, and Louis were messing around with the pictures on the mantelpiece. That was the day Lily found that picture of her grandparents and told Harry her namesake was pretty and she wanted to be just like her. I was so happy, yet so sad at the same time. Percy wasn't sure what to do."

"I suppose all we can do," whispered Fleur, her French not as prominent as it should have been as she spoke, "is fix our family up again so it was all the way it was again. I didn't think anyone would miss it much, but now I think about it, I miss the children running around the house, causing havoc as we drank by the fire and Molly's endless meals... when I think back," she whimpered, "all I think about is how much I miss those happy, carefree days when life was so much more simple."

Ginny stopped sobbing and her eyes darkened. "Things won't ever be quite the same," she said, "but we can put things to the ways they should be. We're family - it's about time we started acting like it."

Teddy grinned at them all and stood up. "My work is done here," he said in a loud voice, making chuckles emit from the room, "but when we have our annual Christmas get-together this weekend, things better be patched up there. Or I will have to do something about it. Now go home and think about it." He ordered them, pointing to the fireplace as he walked towards the door, towards the apparation point he would apparate from. "Bye!"

And he apparated away, leaving a room full of thoughtful, depressed, and sick-looking adults who wished more than anything they could put their small, dysfunctional family back together.

* * *

Lily sighed as she stepped through the door, expecting to be the only one there - yet again - but came face-to-face with her brother Al. He rushed forward and embraced her tightly, sweeping her off her feet and twirling her around in the air before placing her down again, pecking her cheek and moving aside with a grin. James put an arm around her gently, wondering if it still felt the same as it had felt when he had last done it when she was ten but was rewarded by her turning and hugging him tightly. He was startled at first, realising how long it had been since she last hugged him... two years really was a long time.

"It's good to see you, Jamie," she whispered, pulling back and letting him lean down and kiss her hair. He beamed at her when he heard his not-so-familiar nickname from his childhood and moved away so Angelina could rush forward and tug her closer. "Hey, Aunt Angelina."

Angelina almost frowned at her when she reached formal terms with her but thought better of it, feeling the redheaded girl relax in her grip. "It's good to see you, Auntie Angie," and then she felt everything was right again. She squeezed her niece tightly before stepping back and beaming at her as George and Charlie seized her in a bear hug.

Lily squealed as she hugged her Uncles again, feeling tears drip from her eyes. She had never been the emotional type - well, not since the family had drifted apart - but this was more than enough to jerk some tears. Charlie felt her tears soak his shirt and looked down at her, his eyes showing genuine concern that seemed alien on his worn face. "Are you OK, Flower?" he whispered and she smiled up at him.

"I've honestly never been better," she declared, pecking him tightly before tackling Fred in a hug as he laughed and squeezed her tightly.

"It's good to have you back home, Lils," he whispered, and her eyes shot open as she heard the word 'home'.

She looked around at the room full of people she had once called family, but now wasn't sure who they were. "So it's really home again?" whispered Lily.

Harry winced when he heard how vulnerable she had sounded and how hopeful she had sounded. "It's always been home, sweetheart," he said, pulling her in for a hug. "We just forgot where it really was until Teddy opened our eyes for us. We're so sorry for doing this."

Roxanne and Rose both seized Lily next, each of them with the same familiar voice that she was thankful for. Lily savoured each embrace her family, knowing that, this time, there would be no real goodbye again.

"We're so, so sorry," whimpered Ginny, crushing her daughter in a hug before letting her embrace her grandparents. "We only hope you'll forgive us."

Lily turned to her from her grandmother's neck, tears glistening in her emerald eyes. "You've been forgiven since we drifted," she whispered, loud enough for the room to hear. "I couldn't help but forgive you straight away, even though I know things won't be the exact same. I just wish things could have gone differently." The room, which had brightened at her first statement, visibly deflated. "But I know we're family, and that's all that matters."

She paused, meeting every person's eye. "I love you all so, so much."

"We love you, too," Harry and Ginny grabbed their daughter in a hug that almost crushed their ribs, but were surprised when she hugged them so fiercely back. "So much."

* * *

Teddy grinned as Lily tackled him in a hug in the living room, the crowd of reunited family watching them with amused glances. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed, pushing them back over onto the coffee table. "You are, like, my best friend, Ted."

"I would hope so," he frowned playfully down at her, twirling her around as he stood up. "I just, you know, made your family realise they were being stupid and made them all come to their senses and reunite, you know."

Lily growled and slapped him upside the head. "Don't bring it up, you git. We just got back together again - and I gave you credit where it was due! You're just milking it now! Like those muggle farmers!"

Harry laughed suddenly, leaning on the wall for support as he choked on his celebratory wine Missus Weasley had brought him earlier. "Sorry," he coughed, letting Ginny whack his back to stop him from having a coughing fit. "I love it when people make weird muggle references they don't really understand."

Hermione joined in on his laughter, knowing what he meant. "And that clueless Muggle Studies Professor! He thought that rubber ducks were used to wash your hair!"

Ron grinned and wrapped an arm around his daughter, who leaned back in his embrace. "Yeah. And remember Lockhart in second year who kept talking about muggles and how he wanted to be the King of Mice one day if he ever failed..."

The room burst out in laughter.

Family.

* * *

Lily grinned up at Teddy as they stood on the Burrow's balcony. Roxanne and her fiancé had moved in, as well as Fred, James, Al and their wives and children. Their family was on the mend so far, and it was thanks to both of them that it had happened. There were slowly fixing everything, but it was becoming more and more natural everyday for those casual hugs in the sitting room Lily kept giving out, not caring that they normally wouldn't have happened but using it to become more connected to her family. She seemed the least attached compared to her family, though.

Harry and Ginny kept trying to make her laugh at random moments, both of them succeeding with their cheesy jokes and stupid stunts; George and Angelina had treated her to a night out with her school friends or family at least twice; Bill and Fleur had taken her to Paris for the day four times already and she knew her way around the Paris shopping centre like the shops in Diagon Alley and had been up on the Eiffel Tower three times; Ron and Hermione kept buying her sweets from Hogsmeade when Hermione got off her Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching job at Hogwarts and Ron was off Auror work; Molly and Arthur were making her special breakfasts every Sunday and Saturday morning and were more empathetic than usual; Roxanne and Rose dragged her up into their rooms to bond further and get to know the new people they had once known; Fred and James were brightening the place up with their pranks and strived to make her laugh more than usual; Victoire dressed her every day and every night she'd brush through her hair like a big sister would; Dominique dragged her into the garden to read by the shade of the sycamore tree or swim in the lake beside it; Louis was teaching her French and German at the same time and they would have a laugh when she confused them; Al was taking some time off work to take her out for lunch or show her the museum that had opened up in Diagon Alley or the Memorial that had magically appeared in Hogwarts that showed her Uncle Fred and Teddy's parents and Harry's parents in their portraits and they had just talked to them like family; James was also hugging her more than usual and had, once, bought her a necklace with a sparkling emerald in the centre, which she wore everywhere.

Teddy had been there for her on the nights when she was frustrated when they treated her like broken glass. He had held her when she faced that Boggart in her bedroom drawer that had been neglected and it turned into each of her family walking away again and she couldn't help but break down. He had cheered her up when she had spilled her feelings the night when she discovered both of her brothers were going to leave home. He had helped her throw away the bad memories and bring up the good ones, like the evening they had spent in the gardens together as children, running around and tackling each other into the grass.

The pair were fairly close now, almost as if they were dating. Sometimes the pressure of the others found kissing or coming close to sexual contact had driven them to hole themselves up in the nearest room to giggle about it like the typical teenagers they were. And even though the age difference - eleven years, for God's sake - kept them apart for so long, they couldn't help but feel the attraction they felt toward the other.

Lily gripped his hand, looking down on the garden below. "I wanted to thank you again," said the redhead, a soft smile gracing her beautiful features. His hair turned a bright pink and she shook her head, a finger held to his lips. "You brought my family back to me and I can't thank you enough. What can I ever do in return?"

"You don't have to do anything, Lils," he said, squeezing her hand and moving her fingers from his lips. She giggled. "No, I'm serious."

An indignant yell was heard from behind them and they turned around. "No, you're not!" shouted the portrait of Sirius Black from the wall behind them. "I'm Sirius!"

Lily Potter, Lily's namesake and Grandmother, reached through the space between their portraits and her hand came through to whack him round the head. Her husband, James Potter, who would have been her Grandfather, laughed and slipped an arm around her waist.

"I'm serious, really," said Teddy, swinging their clasped hands back and forth nervously. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I would do anything for you, you know that, right?"

Lily nodded, her soft smile wider. "I know, Ted," she whispered, leaning forward as he leaned down, tilting his head. "I love you..." She sucked in a breath, turning her head away.

Teddy shook his head, his hand cupping her chin and raising it to look at him. "I love you, too." And then his lips met hers.

Most people talk about how sparks shoot from their lips, but for Teddy and Lily, fireworks exploded around them. Their lips moved in perfect sync as his hands gripped her waist, one hand on her hips and the other cupping her chin still as her hands tangled in his sandy hair and held the back of his neck in place, pressing their bodies even closer. By now she was pinned against the railing, but neither seemed to care as they were lost in the other's blissful lips.

"I knew he'd do it," whispered the portrait of Nymphadora Lupin to her husband, Remus, as they watched their display of affection in the autumn winds.

Remus grinned and slipped an arm around his wife's waist, sharing a look with James, who muttered, "I still don't like that image of Lily and Remus kissing."

It was true, though. Lily was the carbon copy of her grandmother. Her hair was curled in the same ringlets that fell to the small of her back, her eyes the very same emerald green and their cheekbones high and smattered with freckles. Teddy's hair was at it's natural sandy colour and his eyes faded to his wolfish amber, his skin a pale porcelain.

"I love you," said Lily a few minutes later as they leaned against the rail, watching James throw Dominique into the leaf pile at the end of the garden below and their parents chuckle as they shared some wine. "I love you to the moon and back."

* * *

_**Ugh. Tired. Must. Sleep...**_

_**hhgjjyuhy-[[eww**_


End file.
